Daily Current affairs News Updates about the National and International events were listed here. Candidates those who are preparing for IBPS/SBI/PO/Clerk exam and all other competitive exams can use this.

United Nations Day 24 October

24
October is celebrated as United Nations Day since 1948. The day marks the
anniversary of the entry into force of the UN Charter in 1945. This year's UN
Day will be used to highlight concrete actions people can take to help achieve
the Sustainable Development Goals.

ITBP celebrating its 55th raising day

Indo
Tibetan Border Police, ITBP is celebrating its 55th raising day today. The
force was raised on 24th October in 1962. It is deployed on border guarding
duties from Karakoram Pass in Ladakh to Jachep La in Arunachal Pradesh covering
3488 kilometer of India-China Border manning Border Outposts on altitudes
raging from 9000 feet to 18700 feet in the Western, Middle and Eastern Sector
of the Border.

NATIONAL

PM to launch several schemes including gas pipeline project in
Varanasi today

i. Prime
Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation of several schemes this evening
in Varanasi. These includes the City Gas Distribution (C.G.D) project of Rs
1,000 crore. The project will be executed by Gas Authority Of India Limited.

Natural
Gas will be brought to Varanasi through the 2540 kilometres Jagdishpur-Haldia
and Bokaro-Dhamara Natural Gas Pipeline Project known as “Urja Ganga Project”.
The pipeline project is being taken up with an investment of Rs 12,940 crore.
The Union Government will bear forty percent of the cost.

iii. Other
schemes likely to be launched by the Prime Minister include doubling and
electrification of Varanasi - Allahabad railway line which will cost Rs 588
crore. He will dedicate expansion projects of Diesel Locomotive Works phase one
to the nation.

Govt looking to reduce time for environment clearances: Dave

i. Union
Environment and Forest Minister Anil Madhav Dave has said that the government
is looking to reduce the time by half to 50-60 days for granting forest and
environment clearances to industrial projects.

Speaking
at the Global Investors Summit in Indore, Mr Dave said, earlier it used to take
300 days to pass a file related with these clearances and people used to talk
about imposing different taxes.

ii. Now,
it is taking 120 days and he would like to reduce it to 50-60 days. The
minister also assured the industry of all support from his ministry, even as he
urged them to protect the environment and also focus on R&D activities.

Govt planning to fast-track irrigation projects in Indus basin

i. Government
is planning to fast-track four projects in Indus river basin to increase
irrigation area in Jammu and Kashmir by nearly 2.05 lakh acres. Of these four
projects, three --Tral Irrigation Project in Pulwama, Prakachik Khows Canal in
Kargil and restoration and modernisation of main Ravi Canal in Jammu's Sambha
and Kathua-- are expected to be completed by this fiscal.

ii. The
fourth project of Rajpora Lift Irrigation is planned to be completed by
December 2019. While the first three projects will help irrigate around 1.45
lakh acres of land, the Rajpora Lift Irrigation is expected to help irrigat
around 59,305 acres of land.

iii. All
these works are expected to cost Rs 117 crore for which money will be raised by
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). The move comes
weeks after India decided to exploit to the maximum the water of Indus basin
rivers including Jhelum.

i. Chhattisgarh
government has reiterated its call to Maoists for a dialogue within the
democratic and constitutional framework. In a statement, state's Home Minister
Ramsevak Paikra said, if Maoists leave their arms and violence, then the
government will surely offer them opportunity to join mainstream and an
amicable settlement.

He
said, the government's intention and policy is always clear for a peaceful and
permanent solution to the Naxal problem. Mr. Paikra's statement comes in the
wake of reports that the Supreme court on Friday had asked Chhattisgarh
government to initiate peace talks with Maoists.

UP Govt to Present Yash Bharti Awards

i. Noted
film personality Naseeruddin Shah has been selected for the prestigious Yash
Bharti Samman, for the year 2016. U.P govt announced the names of 54 eminent
personalities for the highest state award. The awards will be given in
recognition of their contributions in their respective fields. The awardees
will get 11 lakh rupees in cash and a citation.

India to host 1st Asian disaster risk reduction conference

i. Indian
government is hosting the first Asian Ministerial Conference for Disaster Risk
Reduction (AMCDRR), scheduled to be held from November 3-5 in New Delhi.
Notably, it is the first major agreement of the post-2015 development agenda
and is aimed at identifying targets and priority action areas towards reducing
disaster risk in the Asian region caused by natural hazards like earthquakes.

President inaugurates Heart Institute

President
Pranab Mukherjee has inaugurated Sardar Patel Hospital & Heart Institute at
Ankleshwar, Gujarat.It is the first such multi healthcare facility in
Ankleshwar. He also inaugurated revamped Sevashram hospital at Bharuch,
Gujarat.He is the second president to visit the hospital whose inaugural
ceremony was graced by Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the first president of India, in
1952.

INTERNATIONAL

New Zealand PM John Key on four day visit to India from today

i. Prime
Minister of New Zealand John Key will arrive in Mumbai this evening on a four
day visit to India.Mr Key will be accompanied by a high level business and
education delegation. He will deliver a key note address at an event organised
by Bombay Stock Exchange. Mr Key will also attend an innovation showcase event
to celebrate innovation in New Zealand-India business partnerships.

ii. In
Delhi, the visiting dignitary will hold meeting with Prime Minister Narendra
Modi to discuss growing bilateral relations. He will also call on President
Pranab Mukherjee during his stay in Delhi. He will also attend a Business
Summit.

On
the last day of visit, Prime Minister Key will leave for Kochi where he will
undertake a short tour of the new Cochin International Terminal and the work
undertaken by the New Zealand company, Glidepath.

China's space lab launches micro-satellite

i. China's
experimental space lab Tiangong-2 orbiting the Earth with two astronauts on
board has successfully launched a micro-satellite, roughly the size of a
desktop printer.

ii. Weighing
47 kilogrammes, the micro satellite has a series of visible light cameras,
including a 25 megapixel camera and wide-angle imagers. Its mission is to take
photographs of Tiangong II and the Shenzhou 11 spacecraft, which docked with
the lab on Wednesday.

iii. The
Tiangong II space laboratory released its companion satellite, Banxing-2
yesterday. The satellite, which the media has nicknamed "Selfie
Stick", also has an infrared camera that is temperature - sensitive.

iv. With
three solar panels, the satellite can also generate enough power to adjust its
orbit to shoot pictures of the lab and spacecraft. The Shenzhou-11 spacecraft
carried two astronauts into space on the 17th of this month. It docked with
Tiangong-2 two days later.

BU General Assembly's meetings underway in Indonesia

i. The
53rd Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union General Assembly and Associated Meetings
(ABU) are underway at Bali, Indonesia. The nine-day events hosted by the Radio
Republic Indonesia will conclude on Wednesday.

ii. The
theme for this year is "Media for the Future". Professionals from the
broadcasting industry are attending the meetings and the conferences held on
the occasion. On Wednesday, the World Broadcasting Unions will gather for a
one-day conference to discuss the role of public service media in the digital
age.

iii. The
ABU has 280 members large and small in 69 countries. Established in 1964 as a
non-profit, non-government, professional association to assist the development
of broadcasting in the region, the ABU promotes the collective interests of
broadcasters and encourages regional and international co-operation.

BANKING NEWS

Sebi Bars 8 Companies from Market

i. The
Sebi has barred as many as eight “vanishing” companies and 40 directors from
accessing the capital marketThey have been barred from accessing the capital
market for the next five Vanishing
companies are those that failed to file statutory returns with the Registrar of
Companies and stock exchanges for two years. These firms failed to comply with
the requirements of listing agreement.

Gold Bond Scheme Opens

i. The
sixth tranche of the sovereign gold bond (SGB) scheme gets open from today, 24
Oct & will remain open till Nov 2.The bonds will be offered at Rs 2,957 per
gram, the lowest price this year. SGB, an alternative mode of investment to
physical gold, was launched in November last year. The government has come out
with five tranches of SGB for a total value of Rs. 3,060 crore.

BUSINESS NEWS

Reliance Forays into LPG Retailing

i. Reliance
Industries, operator of the world’s biggest oil-refining complex, has forayed
into cooking gas retailing, launching a 4-kg LPG cylinder on pilot basis. 4-kg
LPG cylinder was launched in 4 districts on pilot basis. Currently public
sector retailers Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum & HP control retail LPG
market. The govt had last year permitted RIL to sell up to 1.2 lakh tonnes of
LPG.

AGREEMENTS & MoUs

Andhra Pradesh And Singapore Pact in Financial Services

Andhra
Pradesh govt has signed an agreement
with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to promote innovation in
financial services. Under the Agreement will explore joint innovation projects
on technologies such as digital payments & block-chain,They will
collaborate on development of education programmes. The agreement was signed in
the presence of CM N Chandrababu Naidu.

India Inks Loan Pact with World Bank

The
govt has signed an agreement for a $650 million loan from the World Bank
towards the third tranche for construction of the Eastern Dedicated Freight
Corridor (EDFC). It is designed for faster movement of goods between northern
and eastern parts of India. EDFC is 1, 840 km long & extends from Ludhiana
in Punjab to Kolkata in West Bengal as a series of projects with three
sections.

APPOINTMENTS

Kumar Mangalam Birla New IIM-A Chairman

Kumar
Mangalam Birla, the Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, has been named the new
Chairman of the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A). premier
B-school has been without a regular Chairman since January. The IIM
chairmanship is normally a non-executive position. The Chairperson also takes
up the issues of the institute with the Union government.

Tata removes Cyrus Mistry as Chairman, Ratan Tata takes over

Tata
Sons today announced that its Board has replaced Cyrus Mistry as Chairman of
Tata Sons. The company's Board has named Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata as the
Interim Chairman. The Board has constituted a five-member selection committee
to choose a new Chairman within a span of four months.

Hasina Reelected Awami League Chief

Bangladesh
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was re-elected unopposed as the ruling Awami
League’s president The Awami League came to power in December 2008 polls and
returned to power in the January 2014 polls for a second successive term. She
became the longest serving president of the party founded in 1949 The five-year term of the ruling Awami League
will end in 2019.

AWARDS

AIIMS, Ganga Ram doctors chosen for Dr B C Roy award

i. Two
doctors each from the AIIMS and the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH) here have
been selected for the prestigious Dr B C Roy Award for excellence in the field
of medicine. Randeep Guleria, Head of Pulmonology, and C S Yadav of department
of orthopaedics, from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences have been
chosen for the award.

ii. Chairman
of Board of Management at SGRH D S Rana and Arvind Kumar have also been chosen
for the coveted award. "Dr Rana in the category of recognising the best
talents in encouraging the development of specialities in different branches in
medicine and Dr Kumar for the 'Eminent Medical Person' category," a senior
official of SGRH said today.

Renato Sanches wins 2016 European Golden Boy award

Bayern
Munich and Portugal midfielder Renato Sanches has been named 2016’s European
Golden Boy, ahead of Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford, who finished in
second place. The trophy will be presented to the 19-year-old at a ceremony in
Monte Carlo on Monday. Sanches is the first Portuguese player to win the award
after Cristiano Ronaldo's runner-up finish in 2004.

Deccan Odyssey Gets Luxury Train Award

Deccan
Odyssey,the luxury train operated and managed by Cox & Kings has won the
World Travel Award 2016 in the category of Asia’s Leading Luxury Train. The
award ceremony was held at the InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort,
Vietnam. The train offers exclusive trips to royal cities showcasing palaces
&traditions. World Travel Award honors the best of travel and tourism in the
world.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Microsoft Launches Cybersecurity Engagement Centre in India

Microsoft
has launched its first cybersecurity engagement center in India in the heart of
Delhi, which will help the government and the private sector organisations to
deal with cyber attacks. An initiative like this is especially important at a
time when India is dealing with large-scale cyber attacks on four leading
banks' debit cards that have affected as many as 3.2 million customers.

SPORTS NEWS

Lewis Hamilton wins 2016 United States Grand Prix

Mercedes
driver Lewis Hamilton (England) has won the 2016 United States Grand Prix. The
race was held at the Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas, United States.
Nico Rosberg (German) finished second while Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer’s Daniel
Ricciardo finished third in the race.

Guwahati confirmed as venue for FIFA U-17 World Cup

The
FIFA delegation along with the Local Organising Committee members has confirmed
Guwahati as the fifth venue for next year's FIFA U-17 World Cup in India.
Kochi, Navi Mumbai, Goa and New Delhi are the other four venues confirmed for
the tournament. The 23-member delegation will now travel to Kolkata to visit
the last venue of its inspection trip.

OBITUARY

Qatar's former ruler Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad al-Thani passes
away

The
former Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad al-Thani has died at the age of
84. A three days mourning has been declared across the Kingdom. Sheikh Khalifa
ruled Qatar from 1972 to 1995, until he was deposed by his son Hamad bin
Khalifa al-Thani in a bloodless coup.

Tom Hayden, famed anti-Vietnam war activist, dies aged 76

Tom
Hayden, a 1960s anti-war activist and one of the era's most prominent,
counter-culture radicals who went on to serve in the California state assembly
and senate, has died aged 76. Hayden died in Santa Monica, California, after a
long illness.

World Bank:
President : Jim Yong Kim
Headquarters: Washington, D.C., United States
World Bank Group:
World Bank Group has five international organizations:
♦ International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)
♦ International Development Association (IDA)
♦ International Finance Corporation (IFC)
♦ Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)
♦ International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)